1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the diagnosis of cancer, and particularly to the optical analysis of body fluids, such as blood or urine, by fluorescent spectroscopy in order to detect the presence of cancer and the relative severity or stage of the disease both as a diagnostic screening method and for evaluating the progress of treatment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cancer is often a fatal disease. Modern medicine has developed many modes of treating cancer, including surgical removal of tumors, chemotherapy, immunological therapy, etc. However, the key to effective treatment is early detection.
A number of diagnostic tests are available for determining the presence of cancer. These tests include: surgical biopsy; protein sequence analysis (PSA); DRE tests; computed axial tomography (CAT or CT scans); magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans; ultrasound scans; bone scans; positron emission tomography (PET) scans; bone marrow testing; barium swallow tests; endoscopy; cytoscopy; T/Tn antigen tests; mammography; and other tests. Although effective to a greater or lesser extent, each of these tests has advantages and disadvantages.
Some tests, such as PSA, pap smears, and mammography, are specific to particular organs. Others, such as biopsy, endoscopy, bone marrow, and cytoscopy, are invasive tests that often result in considerable discomfort to the patient. Still others, such as CAT scans and MRI scans, are quite expensive and require complex instrumentation.
There is a need for a simple, relatively inexpensive, noninvasive method of screening patients for the presence of cancer, regardless of the location of the cancer or the affected organ, that can be used both for preliminary diagnosis or mass screening of patients, and also during treatment to determine whether cancer has gone into remission. Thus, an optical analysis of body fluids solving the aforementioned problems is desired.